Chapter 43
FORTY-THREE
For hours, we worked in shifts, piecing together a timeline of all the messages and comparing them to events I had attended and other dates on my calendar. It was an odd feeling, looking at your life through an objective lens, watching back each choice you made, wondering if that was the moment you made yourself a target.
Because as much as everyone could say it wasn’t my fault, it wasn’t easy to convince myself. Not when the people I cared about were putting themselves in danger’s path all because they wanted to help me. Each smile I gave, each interview I sat through, only reminded me of the man I used to be, the one so consumed by his career that his life was all smoke and mirrors.
My worldview had been so narrowed, so focused, that it took something of this magnitude to pull me away from it. If it hadn’t, who knows where I would be right now? And as much as I hated feeling like a victim, at least something good had come out of it. I found the love of my life during my darkest period, and as much as I wished she wasn’t in danger right now, I couldn’t say I regretted being with Victoria.
I glanced down at her, softly slumbering in my lap. When I insisted she sit on the couch and take a break, Victoria tried to fight me. But after only a couple of minutes of my fingers running through her hair, her breathing softened, and her eyes reluctantly closed. Looking down at my girl, I tried to keep up the fight, to match the fierce determination she held when she told me we would end this together. But with each passing hour, my faith started to wane. After all, if trained professionals had no idea who they were looking for, what chance did we have?
Across the coffee table, Alex let out a little gasp, her eyes darting up to meet mine. She motioned to the kitchen, probably trying to keep Victoria or the others from waking up. Sliding out slowly, I took a pillow and placed it under Victoria’s head, kissing her brow before following Alex.
She held her laptop open, placing it on the kitchen island. I frowned when I looked at the screen. “What did you find?”
“I’m not really sure,” she mumbled. “I’ve been playing around with our calendar from the lodge, trying to think if anyone else might have seen something while we're all looking in another direction.” She pointed her finger at one date. “This weekend last month, right after Victoria came into town, a group of hikers wanted to check out the local wildlife. They’d asked if I would mind if they placed some cameras up behind their cabins to capture anything coming into our property.”
“Which cabin?” I asked.
“The one right next to yours,” she answered as she pulled up another browser window on her computer screen, showing the details of her property with some x’s marked behind the back row of the cabins. “This is where they wanted to place the cameras. I know none of them are directly pointed at your cabin…”
“But they might have caught an image of someone sneaking around,” I said, excitement filling my veins. It was a lead. Not necessarily one that showed us my stalker’s face, but it was the closest thing we’d come to one all day. I reached out, hugging Alex tightly against me. “You’re a genius.”
“Don’t say that yet,” Alex sighed. “I sent them an email about their footage, and they just forwarded it over to me, so that’s the good news. However…” She chewed on her lower lip. “There’s data from six different cameras, and they were recording for over twenty-four hours. It’s going to take a while to comb through everything.”
“I can help,” I said. “Send one set over to me, and I’ll look through it while you take on the others.”
“We can help, too,” Calla said as she joined us, resting her head on Alex’s shoulder. Devyn reluctantly joined us, pouring the biggest cup of coffee I’d ever seen. I couldn’t help but smirk as I looked at her, only now noticing the large glasses that covered almost half her face.
“Not one word,” she said, pointing her finger at me. “One comment, and I’m out of here. I could use about three days' worth of sleep right now, and my fuse is even shorter than normal.”
Calla rolled her eyes. “Ignore her. She doesn’t mean a word of it.” She tilted her head, “Well, except for the lack of sleep part. She can be mean when she’s tired.”
“What’s her excuse the rest of the time?” Alex teased.
“Ha, ha,” Devyn groaned. “Send it over to me as well. I’m pretty good at spotting discrepancies. Calla can use Theo’s to look at the other.” She looked over at her sister, who was staring at her phone with a concerned frown. “Calla?”
“Yeah, sorry,” she said, popping her phone back into her pocket. “Have any of you heard from Theo? I texted him almost an hour ago, and he hasn’t responded.”
Alex and I shared a look, one that spoke of our concern and worry about her statement. But stressing out Calla wasn’t an option, so I lied. “You know Theo. When he gets involved in something, it’s hard for him to break his focus.” I placed my hand on her shoulder. “Plus, given how tired he was, he probably just fell asleep at his desk.”
“You’re right,” Calla said. But anxiety continued to roll off her shoulders, the feeling almost palpable in the air.
“How about this?” I asked. “You three start combing through the footage, and I’ll take a drive over to his office and give him hell for worrying you.”
Alex chewed her lower lip. “You really shouldn’t be alone right now. Maybe one of us should go with you.”
“That’s not gonna happen, Alex,” I chuckled. With Gray and Cole out, trying to track down the waitress who’d taken an interest in me, it was only the girls left at the house. Although I didn’t doubt their strength, I knew the guys would kill me if I put any of their women in jeopardy. Peeking over at Victoria sleeping on the couch, I could understand the feeling. I would do the same if any of them put her in harm’s way. “I’ll be fine, trust me. Just…” I nodded over to Victoria. “Don’t wake her up until I get back. She’d wring my neck if she knew I was going out by myself.”
“She’s not the only one.” Alex glared at me, but she softened as she looked at her best friend, who was still staring at her phone like it held all the answers. “Fine. But make it quick, and don’t take any unnecessary risks. ”
“I’ll be back before you know it,” I said as I grabbed my keys and headed out the door.
It only took a few minutes to get to Theo’s office on the other side of town. With Fall Fest over and most of the tourists returning home, the roads were empty. While in the past, this might have made me thankful and happy to have our sleepy little village back to normal, tonight, it set me on edge.
As I turned each darkened corner, I waited for someone to jump out, some unknown force looking for this moment to take me out. I had to hope my stalker didn’t want to do me any physical harm, but from stories of other celebrity stalkers, I knew these situations could escalate very quickly.
I pushed that thought out of my mind, focusing on the task at hand. All I needed was to get Theo and bring him back to his wife. Calla was under enough stress; she didn’t need this fear leaching into her as well. All I could hope was that Theo was furiously working at his desk, trying to find a connection in the evidence I gathered. I’d kick his ass for making his wife worry, but it was the best possible outcome.
As I pulled into the parking lot of the office park, relief flowed through me at the sight of his SUV parked in its usual spot. “This fucker,” I hissed under my breath. “You better be in there.”
I took a look around before pushing my door open. There was no one in sight, but I knew better than most what could be hiding in the shadows. I quickly moved to the front door of Theo’s office, a nondescript, rented room in a former textile factory. It had been bought out by a developer a couple of months ago, and they were slowly dividing it into offices to accommodate our growing town. But as far as I knew, Theo was the only current tenant because the rest of the spaces weren’t ready yet.
Walking up to his door, I jiggled the handle, unsure how I felt when it refused to turn in my grip. Luckily, Theo had given me a key in case of emergencies, and I had no qualms about using it now.
After shoving open the metal door, I looked around, squinting to see in the darkness. As I flicked the light switches on and off, nothing happened. Shit.
“Theo?” I called out. “Are you in here?”
No answer.
My blood chilled more with each step inside, that same feeling of wrongness coating me. It was the same as when I walked into my cabin last night, and before, when I entered my penthouse apartment and found my home vandalized. The same icy tendrils of fear ran down my back, making me stand even straighter.
Refusing to give in to my nerves, I pulled out my phone and pushed the button for my flashlight app. I scanned the door, finding no sign of a break-in. In fact, the entire reception area was pristine, looking as if they had just stepped away for the weekend. But as I continued to walk toward the office in the back, something on the floor grabbed my attention, my pulse instantly thundering in my ears.
Three drops.
Three dark red drops marred the floor.
Blood.
“Theo!” I bellowed, moving closer to his office. The first thing I saw was his dark hair, the rest of his body obscured by his high-back chair. My whole body tensed as I moved closer, twisting his chair so he would face me. Theo groaned as he slumped forward, his hand clutching the handle of a knife buried deep in his side. His color was pale, almost ghostly, his breathing labored with each rise of his chest.
“Shit,” I hissed, searching for a pulse. “Theo, can you hear me?”
He grimaced, but no words left his lips.
As a faint thump of his heartbeat hit my fingertips, I exhaled slowly, sending up a silent prayer for it to hold on. I pulled his jacket back to take a better look at his wound. The weapon was small, closer to a kitchen knife than a carving one, but it seemed deep.
“Get the fuck up, Theo,” I hissed as I ripped off my sweater and pressed it around the weapon, trying not to jostle it. Relief rippled through me when he grunted at the impact. Even if he was in rough shape, at least he was breathing. As I continued to apply pressure, I lifted my phone. My fingers shook as I dialed emergency services, refusing to let my eyes leave Theo for even a second.
“911, what’s your emergency?”
“My friend…” The word rushed out of me. “I think he’s been stabbed.”
“Where’s your location?”
“We’re at?—”
But I never got to finish the words before my world went black.